Time for PA to raise minimum wage

The minimum wage rose in 10 states this week by anywhere from a dime to 35 cents an hour. Not so in Pennsylvania, where it's stuck at $7.25 per hour. That's a sad commentary on how the Keystone State views low-wage workers.

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poconorecord.com

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Posted Jan. 4, 2013 at 12:01 AM

Posted Jan. 4, 2013 at 12:01 AM

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The minimum wage rose in 10 states this week by anywhere from a dime to 35 cents an hour. Not so in Pennsylvania, where it's stuck at $7.25 per hour. That's a sad commentary on how the Keystone State views low-wage workers.

Most of the states that raised the minimum wage — Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Missouri, Montana, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington — used an automatic cost-of-living adjustment that is supposed to reflect inflation. Barely. Face it: Anyone making minimum wage is just minimally surviving. The roughly $15,000 per year the minimum wage provides barely covers the basics of rent, food, transit.

Still, the boost puts new pocket change in the pockets of nearly 1 million low-wage workers — money that will benefit the wider economy because there's little doubt these individuals or their families will spend it almost immediately on essentials.

That's why penny-pinching Pennsylvania lawmakers should be thinking about raising the basic wage here, too. It will do little harm and might do much good.

Opponents to raising the minimum wage argue that it makes it harder for businesses to hire entry-level employees. But a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill study of minimum wages along state lines shows that's not the case. Businesses in higher minimum wage states didn't move to neighboring states with lower wage rates. Nor did a rising minimum wage adversely affect employment. In fact, it reduced turnover, which lowered costs.